Teachers propose giving high school students extra year to graduate,

Students should be allowed to take fewer courses in high school and be funded an extra year to earn their diploma if they need more time, say proposals from teachers’ unions to the government about reopening this fall.

Standardized testing should also be scrapped and teachers will need time to make sure kids are up to speed, especially in math, because of the extended shutdown this spring, the proposals say.

Students could attend alternate days with Fridays set aside for thorough cleaning, one teachers’ union suggests.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce says, while planning is still in the works, with details to be revealed by the end of the month, families will have choices — in-school or online — depending on their comfort levels given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“As we work to develop the plan, we are preparing for all scenarios with an emphasis on safety of our students and staff,” Lecce said in a statement.

“That will include adaptations in response to the local public health situations on the ground and (it will) recognize the importance of choice for parents who have asked for online and in-class options.

“Parents should have the confidence that we will unveil a plan to keep students safe by leveraging the best advice from Canada’s top medical and scientific leaders.” The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, in a white paper prepared for the province, says “the publicly funded school system, in Ontario, has unique issues we must grapple with prior to returning to bricks-and-mortar classrooms in the fall,” and urged the government to consult closely with unions.

OSSTF is calling for funding so secondary students can take a fifth year or additional credits if they need them and any student could take a reduced course-load. It also asks the government to consider lowering the 110 hours required to earn a credit, having final exams count for less than 30 per cent and building in time to address learning gaps, which experts have warned will be felt most in subjects such as math.

During the school day, it adds, “staggered lunch periods, snack, recesses, class times may be necessary.”

The union also says personal protective equipment must be provided, and rules about hygiene and physical distancing must be made clear. Training should be provided for staff and possibly students. It is also asking for extra custodial staff as well as mental health workers in schools.

The union suggests teachers whose immune systems are compromised be assigned to students who are not returning to school in person, and that no teacher should have to do inclass and online learning at the same time, it recommends.

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, which submitted its ideas to the government Friday, said more than 90 per cent of its members are concerned about returning to class, even if health officials give the go-ahead, and it urged stringent health and safety protocols.